Hi All! We are excited to get our latest webinar about the PermaCycler online and ready for viewing.

A small but dedicated crowd of sustainability enthusiasts joined me as I went over the parts, functions, and most importantly, how the PermyCycler can save you money on your grow.

How might this be, Colin?

Damn good question! And one we address in our half our webinar that can be found here and below on EcoIslands’ YouTube Channel.

As has been mentioned in blog posts #5 and #18, the PermaCycler is a sealed, self-organizing wetland in a box that is linked to a sealed plant growing chamber. Oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged back and forth between the two using air pumps.

Plants turn CO2 into O2 during photosynthesis when the lights are on or the sun is up.

This humid, warm, oxygen rich atmosphere is sucked out of the grow chamber by a small compressor and injected into the PermaCycler. The O2 is used by fish, microbes, and other living critters that exhale ammonia and CO2. The ammonia is converted to nitrate (major plant fertilizer) by microbes in the wetland. The CO2 is off-gassed and directed back into the grow chamber. There, it promotes more plant growth and the Cycle continues.

Water and nutrients to feed the plants are pulled from the PermaCycler. What doesn’t get used by the plants goes back to the ‘Cycler, cleaned by the plants for the fishes benefit.

So how does this all save me money? Lots of ways!!

Since you are recycling water, nutrients, carbon dioxide, and not flushing waste or having to compost plant waste outside of the PermaCycler, those all directly link to the operational costs of your grow. There are a host of externalities to be considered as well, like not burdening wastewater treatment plants with excess potassium and phosphorous.

Here is a list taken from the webinar of other positive externalities that using a permacycler gains:

Less material demand on local supply and infrastructure.

More independence from the grid.

Greater Profit from lower operating costs = local tax revenue and jobs = winning for all of us.

Check out the webinar replays below for more, or please give us a call and we are happy to provide a free survey you can use to evaluate your grow’s costs. With that filled out, together we can crunch the numbers for your potential ROI, or return on investment when purchasing and integrating a PermaCycler into your grow.